Capture, Cavalry, Confusion, Courtship
by Forever-Furuba
Summary: Canon Divergence. The Bog King imprisoned the elf and destroyed the primrose petal. Now he has to deal with Princess Dawn, who has come to the Dark Forest to negotiate Sunny's release to the Fairy Kingdom; though her 'bodyguard', Marianne, seems to be doing most of the actual negotiating.
1. Sunny Is Caught and Canon Diverges

**In Which Sunny Is Caught and Canon Diverges**

"I am on a _very_ – _serious_ – _mission_! I really need to find the Sugar Plum Fairy, the maker of the all-powerful love potion, and you're holding me back!"

 _Well, that didn't sound suspicious at all_ , Beakboy thought sarcastically, charging in the direction of the shouting.

There! An elf in the Dark Forest, just like the mushrooms told the king – and holding a primrose petal!

Beakboy lunged and caught him. Unsurprisingly, the elf screamed. Beakboy winced but held on. The other guards came running.

"We got him! Tell the king we caught the intruder!"

No one needed to go and tell the Bog King, because with a rattle of wings, His Majesty was there, towering over Beakboy and the elf Beakboy was restraining.

"A primrose," he rumbled. He took it from the elf, who seemed torn between clinging to the flower petal and flinching back from the long claws. The king tilted his sceptre so that the amber caught the sunlight and a golden spot appeared on the petal … which then burst into flames.

"NOOO!" the elf howled. "I needed that!"

"Lock him up," the king ordered. "I _suppose_ I should tell the Fairy Kingdom he's here."

Gus, one of the largest goblins, picked the elf up and tucked him under one arm, since none of them were carrying rope to bind him. The prisoner was just whimpering now.

"You needn't believe me, elf," said the Bog King, "but I'm doing you a favour. Love is dangerous … and the potion doesn't always work."

The guards exchanged looks but didn't question him.

When they got back to the castle, Griselda was waiting in the door of the throne room with an expectant expression.

"Oh, no." The Bog King quickly herded them all to the dungeons before his mother could see them.

"Oh, son!" Too late. He gave Beakboy, the last goblin in the group, a little push towards the stairs and went to face the former queen's latest attempt to find a new queen.

"What's going to happen to me?" the elf asked after the cage was locked.

"Execution, life in prison … don't know." Beakboy shrugged. "Nobody's been dumb enough to steal a primrose petal before."

The goblins would agree, later, that it had been foolish to leave the dungeons unguarded, even if the prisoners _were_ all securely locked up.

* * *

( _The movie's end credits include the name 'Beakboy'. I believe this is the goblin who appears to have both fangs and a beak. He nearly catches Sunny in the movie, getting to the spot where Sunny met the imp just after Sunny and the imp are out of sight. A goblin of similar appearance, possibly the same one, later describes Sunny to Bog as 'a slippery little devil'._

 _These chapter will be a lot shorter than the chapters in_ Taking the Feisty One _\- the average word count per chapter of this fic is 375, and two chapters are only about 150 words each - but there shouldn't be any delays, either, since the entire story is pre-written._ )


	2. Dawn Discovers Sunny Is Missing

**In Which Dawn Discovers Sunny Is Missing**

"Marianne!"

She lowered her sword right away. Dawn didn't sound that close but she sounded airborne and could move in quickly, and Marianne didn't want to skewer her sister.

"What's up, Dawn?"

"Do you know where Sunny is?"

Marianne was tempted to dismiss this, but on the other hand, Dawn and Sunny had nearly been eaten by a lizard earlier that day, so it wasn't unreasonable for Dawn to get a little clingy in the aftermath.

"He's probably helping set up for the festival and Spring Dance tonight."

"He's not, though." Marianne lifted her blindfold. Dawn was wringing her hands. "Pare and Rosemary and Glen and Harper and Della have all come to _me_ asking if I know where he is, because he's supposed to be helping but he's not there! And he's not at his house, and I asked at the courier office and they said he doesn't work today because he was helping with the Ball earlier and he's helping with the Dance tonight, so they don't know where he is either, and then his _parents_ saw me and asked if I knew where he was, because people have been asking them, too, and I'm getting really worried."

"Okay, Dawn, breathe …" Marianne sheathed her sword. "Where else could he be?"

"I – I don't – _know_ – and – what if another lizard got him?!"

"Do you want to check the dandelion patch by the border, to make sure the lizard's gone?"

Dawn took a deep breath. "Okay. And you'll come with me, right?"

"Of course."

The burrow the lizard had sprung out of was empty, though Marianne had her sword out again just in case. There was no sign of Sunny and no new signs of a chase. Marianne's and Dawn's handmaidens scattered to look more closely, coming back once in a while with tiny heads shaking to pat Dawn comfortingly on the cheek.

A throat cleared, coming from a direction they didn't usually hear voices. "Message to the Fairy Kingdom!"

A tiny, snaggle-toothed goblin stood at the edge of the border, waving a scroll at them.


	3. Sugar Plum Tells Of That Fateful Day

**In Which Sugar Plum Tells Of That Fateful Day**

"Did I hear correctly?" The voice was high and sweet and startling. "You stole a primrose petal?"

"… Yeah, I did," Sunny confessed. Was it still a confession when he'd been caught with it in his hands?

"I don't suppose you'd … have it with you?"

"No. The goblins set it on fire."

"URGH! That's just like the Bog King, isn't it?"

"Who are you?"

"The Sugar Plum Fairy, of course! You're in one of the cages? Look down. There's a blue glow. That's my cell." It came from a grate in the floor. "It's nice to have company! No one comes down here much. If the Bog King would just _listen to me_ about what happened on That Fateful Day –"

"That Fateful Day?" Sunny repeated.

"You were listening!" the voice crowed. "How do you think I got in here? One _Fateful Day_ , when the Bog King was young and impetuous, he fell in love, you see."

Sunny could not see. He could not imagine any creature so terrifying feeling something so tender.

"But Bog? He had no patience. So he came to me for my love potion, and I _tried_ to tell him how it worked! Dust the one you love, stand in front, be the first she sees when she opens her eyes. He did all that, fine, but there's _one thing_ more powerful than the potion. That sweet, unsuspecting creature that love-sick Bog had dusted? She was already in love with someone else! So of course when she found herself gazing into the wrong eyes, the magic didn't take. And the Bog King's been such a _brat_ about it, locking me up and banning all love from the Dark Forest!"

Sunny wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Hey, are you still listening?"

"Yeah, I got it," he said quickly. "I got it. Man, no wonder he said he was doing me a favour."

Sitting on the floor of his cage, Sunny wrapped his arms around his knees. He was in so much trouble. And it had all been for nothing, in the end – he hadn't gotten the potion, and if he had, if Dawn's latest crush turned out to be 'true love', it wouldn't have even worked on her.

Not … Not that he would want to deny Dawn 'true love' if she found it … even if it wasn't with him …

And it wasn't like it would've _all_ been for nothing. Marianne, at least, could've been happy again, if she'd fallen in love with Roland again … the guy she'd dumped on their wedding day, and made clear she hated now … who could never remember Sunny's name even after knowing him for years, since Dawn introduced her best friend to her sister's boyfriend … who often talked down to Marianne when she talked about the things she wanted to do as Queen …

Sunny was starting to think maybe this plan wasn't as perfect as he had thought.


	4. A Rescue Mission Is Planned

**In Which A Rescue Mission Is Planned**

"To His Majesty the Fairy King from His Majesty the Bog King," Dawn read out loud. "I have been forced to imprison one of your subjects for trespassing and possession of contraband. An elf has crossed the closed border into the Dark Forest and was upon capture discovered to be carrying a primrose petal."

She and Marianne both looked up at the severed flower stems.

"The elf is being held in my dungeons until a sentence has been decided and imposed." Dawn gasped. "The goblins have Sunny! We have to go save him!"

"Not by ourselves!" Marianne grabbed Dawn's ankle before Dawn could dart off into the trees. "We'll go back to the castle and get help. We at least have to tell Dad before we go off into hostile territory."

* * *

The Fairy Court was not as helpful as the princesses had hoped. Roland seemed to be the only one at all interested, and he was suggesting, "If we were to rally an army –"

"We are trying _not_ to escalate this into a war!" Marianne snapped at him.

"You can't have it both ways, Princess. Either the elf's important enough to go to war over or he's not important at all."

 _SLAP!_

"THE ELF'S NAME IS _SUNNY_ AND I _LOVE_ HIM!" Dawn shrieked, her palm stinging.

There was a moment of absolute silence. Then Dawn gasped, and fled. Marianne went after her.

"Let's give the princesses a moment to recompose themselves," one of the lords suggested.


	5. A Rescue Mission Is Enacted

**In Which A Rescue Mission Is Enacted**

"If no one's going to help, we'll just rescue Sunny ourselves."

* * *

Marianne tensed up at the border. She grabbed Dawn's hand and held it tightly as they crossed, expecting at any moment for one of them to be snatched away.

When that didn't happen in the first five seconds, she let out a slow breath and let go.

The mushroom gasped at the bright wings flashing overhead.

"Two fairies have crossed the border!" they hissed to their neighbour up the line.

Dawn stayed close to Marianne for once, instead of dancing through the air around her. She gasped when they nearly flew into a spider web.

"Stay behind me." Marianne drew her sword.

They dodged the web and were nearly bitten by a plant. Dawn bumped into another plant, causing it to reach up and fan out as though to catch them.

A goblin scout spotted the two fairies, and the scroll that the more brightly-coloured one carried, with the Bog King's seal cracked but visible. They blew the signal horn in a sequence rarely used – strange visitors were on their way to the castle.

* * *

Thang burst into the throne room, interrupting Griselda's song. Bog was both relieved and annoyed.

"Sire, news from the mushrooms! Dune berries havoc and smoulder!"

"That's not it!" said Stuff. "Two fairies have crossed the border! And they're nearly here!"


	6. Negotiations Begin

**In Which Negotiations Begin**

"I am Princess Dawn of the Fairy Kingdom and I _demand_ that you release the elf Sunny into my custody!"

The dark-clad fairy behind the princess put one hand over her eyes and shook her head.

"The elf trespassed in my kingdom and violated my laws," said Bog flatly. "And I don't believe he gave a name."

"An elf by that name disappeared a few hours before your message arrived," said the other fairy, now resting her hand on the hilt of a sword. Probably a bodyguard, to make sure the reckless princess didn't get herself killed. "Before negotiating the terms of his release, and before deciding whether imprisoning a subject of the Fairy Kingdom is to be taken as an act of unwarranted aggression by the Dark Forest, or if his actions justify your response, we'd like to speak to your prisoner, to ensure he's … currently unharmed."

Bog stood at his full height – neither fairy cringed – and cracked his neck.

"This way."


	7. Sunny Confesses To Dawn

**In Which Sunny Confesses To Dawn**

"Sunny!"

"Dawn?"

"You're okay!"

"Dawn, what are you _doing_ here?"

"Marianne and I came to save you!" She reached through the bars and he took her hand. "Don't worry, we'll make the goblins let you go."

"Dawn … I …" He shook his head. "You shouldn't have … I'm not …"

"And don't you dare say you aren't worth it! You are worth _every risk_ , Sunny; I love you _so much_." Dawn blushed gorgeously. "I know that sounds like it came out of nowhere, but I do love you, and even if you don't love me back that way, you're still my best friend –"

"I love you, too." She went starry-eyed. It killed Sunny to take that from her. "And, there's something else I need to tell you."

Below them, Marianne and the Bog King were debating his sentence.

"If trespassing is so terrible, then I would think you would want him _out_ of your kingdom, so it shouldn't be a hardship to give him back to ours."

"That's not the worst of what he did. Do you know what primroses are _for_?"

"I'm aware, yes, and I'll have you know that the Fairy Kingdom restricts the use of love potions as well, so it's not like he'd be getting off the hook entirely."

"YOU WHAT?" Dawn's wings closed and she fell to the ground, reopening them just enough not to hurt herself when she landed. She dropped to her knees, buried her face in her hands, and started sobbing.

In that moment, the sheer awkwardness of being facing with a crying stranger would have made the Bog King yield to almost any concession if it would make them leave.

Ignoring him, Marianne went to Dawn and gently hugged her, saying in her fiercest whisper, " _What did he do_?"


	8. Roland Gets An Army

**In Which Roland Gets An Army**

"Your Majesty." Roland kept his hands still at his sides instead of twirling his hair. "The princesses haven't been seen for hours – if they went into that forest alone, who knows what might've become of them by now?"

King Dagda stood at the window of the King's Study and said nothing. His white and grey beard was stained orange by the sunset. The shadows made his age lines and worry lines look especially deep.

"We cannot stand idly by and allow the goblins to abduct our citizens."

King Dagda closed his eyes. "You're right." He sighed. The final edge of the sun crossed the horizon. "I grant you full access to the armory. Rally all knights of the realm and send out a call for volunteers. Do whatever you need to bring the princesses home safely, along with anyone else the goblins have taken."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Roland bowed, and left, a wicked smile on his face.

 _Finally_.


	9. Bog And Marianne Fight

**In Which Bog And Marianne Fight**

It turned out the elf had actually been planning to use the love potion on the fairy princess. Her bodyguard looked absolutely enraged at that, and Bog couldn't imagine the Fairy King would be any happier.

Any punishment Bog could mete out against the little invader would likely pale in comparison to the wrath of a protective father.

He was about to tell them they could go, when Marianne (that was what the princess called her) rounded on him.

"I'll fight you for him. I win, we take Sunny home to face our justice. You win, he stays here and faces yours."

… Well, that could be fun. Marianne clearly needed to vent some rage and Bog could do with an outlet as well. It had been a long time since he had fought someone else with wings.

"Let's take this back upstairs."

The elf was restrained and brought up to join the audience. Stuff and Thang were both practically bouncing with excitement. The fairy princess looked worried and grim, but oddly pleased.

Thang claimed the honour of counting down the fight. "Three … two … one – GO!"

Marianne howled and threw herself at Bog, sword-first. He barely got his staff up in time to block her.

She held the offensive for several minutes, stabbing and slashing at him while he dodged and swatted her blade away.

Then Bog got a lucky hit, knocking her sword into the air – but then she _grabbed his sceptre_ and _pulled him closer_ and kicked him in the chest, using the leverage to launch herself and catch the sword before it hit the ground.

"Impressive," he said.

The fight may have become slightly more … artistic, after that. Bog twirled his staff to get momentum for a strike. Marianne feinted an attack with one hand and rolled her sword over her shoulders to catch it in the other and strike from Bog's other side. Bog found himself mimicking some of her flashier moves. He caught her mimicking him once or twice in return.

"You fight well." He hastily covered that up by adding, "for a fairy."

"Wish I could say the same for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know – I was expecting –" she knocked his staff aside and _twirled_ closer for her next attack – " _more_?"

Bog nearly roared, launching a new series of blows that drove his opponent back and into the air, following her up. They ended up destroying one of his chandeliers before tiring themselves out enough to have to land.

Panting, shaking, Marianne raised her sword and pointed it at Bog's heart.

"I yield."

She smiled. The tip of her sword hit the floor with a _clang_.

There was applause. Griselda had joined the audience, and was saying to the princess, "Of course you won't want to just fly off right after that, so how about you all have something to eat before you go?"

Marianne glanced sideways at Bog and hissed, "Uh, who is –?"

"My mother," he said in exasperation.

The elf was untied and Griselda bustled them all into the dining room, which she had decorated with hearts and streamers at some point since lunch. Bog groaned and decided that he didn't want to know.


	10. The Army Is Rebuffed

**In Which The Army Is Rebuffed**

Roland openly shuddered in disgust at his surroundings. The Dark Forest was so … dark, and creepy, and full of disgusting rustling creatures and foul-smelling oozes …

Even the castle was gross; a rotten tree with a skull for a doorway. A swarm of goblins were blocking the army's path.

"On behalf of the Fairy Kingdom," he announced to them, "I demand the release of all prisoners held by the Dark Forest who are rightfully citizens of our land."

The goblins muttered amongst themselves at that, until one piped up loud enough for Roland to hear, "Maybe they followed their princess?"

"You mean the princess- _es_ … cesses … ses," Roland corrected.

"Are. You. KIDDING ME?"

Uh-oh. Marianne was coming out of the castle, flying over the heads of the goblins alongside some kind of bug-goblin hybrid. She did not look happy to see him.

"I _explicitly said_ ," she informed Roland's army, "that we are trying to resolve this matter _without_ provoking the Dark Forest into war. Tell us, Roland, what _exactly_ made you feel justified in _undermining my orders and authority as Heir to the Throne_?"

"Your father, _the King_ , has ordered me to do whatever it takes to bring you home safely."

"Oh, good. Then you can _escort Dawn and Sunny back to the border_ while I finish smoothing over the diplomatic snarl that _you_ just made worse."

The bizarre monstrosity beside her was apparently the goblins' king, and he arranged an escort of his own soldiers to make sure none of the fairy army 'got lost' on the way out of the Dark Forest.


	11. Matters Conclude With A Montage

( _Personal opinion: I would've liked it better if the movie had ended with a montage of the new/rebuilt connections between the kingdoms, with both couples developing their relationships across the clips, spanning at least a year like Marianne's sword-training sequence was supposed to. This chapter is intended to have a montage effect._

 _Yes, given the length, I probably_ could _have formatted this whole thing as a one-shot story, but I've never completed writing a multi-chapter fic before, so this is a real milestone for me! Also, since it's eleven chapters long and finishes on Christmas Eve - whatever FFnet tells you, this went up after midnight on the 24th, not before midnight on the 23rd! - it gives a 'Twelve Days of Christmas' vibe; I've got an update of a different sort planned for Christmas Day._ )

* * *

 **In Which Matters Conclude With A Montage**

"You're the _Princess_?" Bog demanded.

"You didn't _know_?"

"I thought you were the princess' _bodyguard_!"

"Okay, so I can be kind of protective of my sister, but can you blame me? I mean, if she can't even trust her own best friend …" Marianne cast a dark look in Sunny's direction.

"So." Bog was using his sceptre as a walking stick, as they followed the army back to the border. "What happens now?"

* * *

Sunny's trial was huge. Scandal rocked the kingdom when it came out that the whole plan had involved _both_ princesses being coerced into marriage. Roland was arrested for conspiracy.

Dawn visited Sunny in the dungeon every day. Even when she was upset with him, she still loved him.

Bog and Marianne got in the habit of meeting at the border to talk. Sometimes her sister or father or his mother would join them, but more often, they met alone.

Marianne and Bog were roughly equal in skill when they sparred. Meeting to do that became a habit as well.

The next spring, elves, brownies, fairies, and sprites were helping the goblins cut down and dispose of the primroses.

Sunny's sentence was a lesser one, as he was considered as much a victim of Roland's charisma as a genuine co-conspirator. After a single year, he was released.

After Marianne and the Bog King had been meeting for a year and a half, Griselda, Stuff, and Thang quietly started placing bets on when the Bog King would overturn the love ban.

The Sugar Plum Fairy was freed of her prison, on the condition that she never brewed a love potion again – no matter what sob story the person requesting it told her.

It warmed Bog's heart, how delighted Marianne was with everything he showed her in the Dark Forest, admiring its dangers and its beauties alike.

It made Marianne laugh, how careful Bog was when interacting with anything from the Fairy Kingdom, lest his claws tear it to shreds.

Two years after confessing their love, three springs after the last attempt at a Royal Wedding, Dawn and Sunny got married. This wedding was _not_ cancelled at the last minute.

* * *

During a moonlit flight through the Dark Forest, Bog spotted a patch of dark blue flowers he thought would look perfect in Marianne's hair. He lagged behind her for a moment to pick one.

It was surprising, but definitely not unwelcome, when after he gave it to her, she kissed him.


End file.
